Equestria. Canterlot Dungeon. Day.
Sitting there in imprisonment as always within the Aura Prison were Lucien and Sienna. Bored out of their mind and not having much to do except wait for Cosmos to free them. Cosmos wouldn't free them herself. Her magic was still restrained. However, they knew that she would send someone to free them and that someone was Cynthia. The Champion of Sinnoh. Recommended by Sienna herself.
"It's been 2 days..." Sienna sighed. "Do you think Cynthia came in yesterday?"
"I don't know." Lucien shrugged, slumping on the sphere. Another day of waiting and absolutely nothing eventful. But, they were still holding out on Cosmos freeing them. After letting Cosmos know that they were aware of every important event in this world's history, they managed to score themselves their freedom.
All they had to do was wait for it to come to them. More importantly, someone that Cosmos was influenced. Cynthia, of course. However, at this moment, Cynthia was not present at Canterlot. She was previously, but not right now.
Ponyville. Twilight's Castle Afternoon.
Instead, Cynthia had travelled to Ponyville. The necklace was still around her neck as Cosmos' voice silently spoke to her, influencing the Champion of Sinnoh. With each passing second, that control over her was getting stronger. The necklace kept speaking to her, asking Cynthia to do one simple thing. Find the rest.
Upon seeing Cynthia, Twilight had opened the door, greeting the principal of the Pokemon School. "Oh, Cynthia!" Twilight said once meeting with her. "What a surprise! I never expected you to ever visit me."
"Hello, Twilight. I just came here to bring this to you." She held the necklace up, showing it to Twilight. Twilight Sparkle laid her eyes on the necklace, seeing that it resembled her Cutie Mark. From the purple star to the other white stars connected to it. "It looked like your Cutie Mark, so I assumed it was yours."
"Pretty...But it's not mine." Twilight shook her head, though she did admire the necklace.
"Oh. Well, I do think it looks good on me." Cynthia giggled. Knowing that it did not belong to her, she was leaning towards keeping it unless someone else owned it. "Now that I'm here, now is a good time to tell you that it also has something special about it that I think you should see." Cynthia didn't stop there. It was about the projection. Twilight invited her in.
At the same time, Cosmos was secretly watching everything. It was all thanks to that necklace she affected. She had become Cynthia's eyes. Literally. She watched the Trainer enter the castle, waiting for Cynthia to finally enact the process of bringing her back.
When inside, it was revealed that the rest of Twilight's friends were here as well, sitting around their usual roundtable. Cynthia had greeted them immediately. "How have you all been? Getting out of trouble?" Cynthia joked.
"We wish." Applejack shook her head as none of them managed to stay out of trouble. Unintentional trouble that is.
"Nice necklace you have there!" Rarity noticed Cynthia's necklace. "Thought it looks like it would be Twilight's."
"That's what I was thinking," Twilight replied.
"It does seemingly fit a human more. Perhaps it was a gift." Cynthia further observed the necklace. "Unless someone thought you were a human, Twilight. Anyway...this necklace is fairly bizarre. I could swear I hear voices coming from it."
"Voices?" They all slid over with Cynthia holding the necklace out. Once close to them, everyone took a good listen. Especially Fluttershy, who had undergone some Harmony Phenomenon training to increase her sense of hearing. But even with all of them up close to the necklace, there was nothing. Not a single audible sound had been unleashed.
"It's dead silent," Spike commented.
"Even my new hearing can't hear it." Fluttershy shook her head as did Audino. Not even the Hearing Pokemon's feelers could pick it up.
"Audino."
"Hmm...strange. The necklace tells me to find the rest. But I'm not quite sure what that means. But perhaps this works still." Moving to the good part, Cynthia had shown everyone here what the necklace could do. Aside from looking pretty, when tapping on it, Cynthia managed to trigger the magic within it. Out of the necklace, the projection of space had been unleashed once more, this time inside Twilight's Lab.
"Neat!" Pinkie Pie blurted out a sMew flew up, flailing his arms at the projection. It was simply a holographic visage so there was no interaction.
Twilight had witnessed the projection and its appearance. The moons and planets within the cosmos had been shown via this one necklace. But more importantly, the constellation that this part of space held could be seen. "What can you make of it, Twilight?" Cynthia asked. Twilight froze there for a bit with an open mouth before gazing right at the projection. Her eyes widened.
"Wait...I know that constellation!" She was more focused on the constellation instead of the fact that the necklace could summon a projection of space itself. "The Andalusian!"
"Anda...? What now?" Rainbow Dash was unable to pronounce it.
"Andalusian! It's a series of stars that just showed up in the night sky centuries ago! Star charts everywhere had to be changed! It's the biggest astrological anomaly ever!"
"Is that what that is..." Cynthia narrowed her eyes. "Andalusian."
"Then one day, the whole constellation went dark." Twilight rushed her magic to interact with her bookshelves, only to pull out some maps instead of books. She was highly excited about this while Cynthia still had that dead stare, hearing the voices from the necklace. Twilight showed the map to everyone as it appeared in the shape of a heart. And around that heart was 6 stars.
"Cynthia. The Necklace you're wearing isn't meant to be like my Cutie Mark. It's meant to be these points on the maps. Stars!" Twilight exclaimed.
"What are the odds of that?" Fluttershy gawked.
"Cynthia. By finding that necklace, you may have stumbled upon a clue to solving the biggest cosmic mystery of all time!" Twilight turned to Cynthia. "That must be what the necklace was telling you to do about finding the rest!"
"Lucky me." Cynthia smiled, not having much of a response.
"So...what do we do?" Rainbow Dash went to the map. "Just find all these things and fling them back into the sky?"
"Seems simple enough. I mean, we've got a map telling us where to look." Applejack added.
"And flinging them back to the sky part? We can do that, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I can kick pretty hard." Applejack shrugged as the approach to throwing the stars was something they were both lingering on.
"You two can't just touch stars." Twilight shook her head as Cynthia went to pick up the map, observing it for a bit.
"It'd be in line with how we're all trying to reach space, right?" Rarity spoke. "Do you think we could use that golden stairway to put the stars back in the sky?"
"I don't know. But I think it's a nice break from all our normal series of events. No strange monsters, evil Pokemon or Rift Creations trying to harm us and everyone." Fluttershy commented.
"Yeah, but it's still space-related. Can't get away from that." Spike shrugged.
"Why would we? Space is like the final frontier! It's where everything ends! I think that's the meaning of it." Rainbow Dash expressed her love for the concept of space. Many do indeed call it the final frontier.
"Think of the research opportunities we now have with this. From what their magical qualities are and what the stars are made out of...so much!" said Twilight as Cynthia's eyes were fully focused on the map. While looking at it, Cynthia's eyes were glowing those same pink colours once more as she looked over the heart and the stars.
"Indeed..." Cynthia agreed as she still looked at the map without looking back at anyone else, facing away from them. "We could learn everything from it. "All we need to do is find the rest..." Then, Cynthia started repeating the words that the necklace kept telling to her. Cosmos' influence was certainly potent. "Find the rest...I shall leave now and find the rest."
"Just you?" Twilight tilted her head as Cynthia changed it from 'We' to 'I'.
"I do love to adventure when I'm not battling or running the school." Cynthia closed the map. "I believe I'm exploring more than I appear at the school, wouldn't you agree?"
"We barely do see you. But hey, that's how it goes." Pinkie Pie replies. "Adventure awaits, right?"
"May I take the map for a while, Twilight?" The Champion of Sinnoh asked the Princess of Friendship.
"Sure. But we'd love to help you, Cynthia. Finding those stars gets me all excited!" Twilight pranced on the spot. "Making it a team effort will help us find the stars faster, right?"
"That is true. Good thinking, Twilight. I'll call for you all soon. Try getting all the help you can as well. If you want." Cynthia chuckled in response. Cynthia then bid farewell as well as everyone else left the castle, having something new in mind. Those 6 stars of the Andalusian.
Saddle Lake.
Once they had all left and Cynthia was off on her own, It was all music to her ears. Not her adventurous side but something else. Her eyes flashed pink once more with a devious smile emerging on her. At this moment, Cosmos was speaking through her as her voice was a fusion of Cynthia and Cosmos. Cynthia had left Ponyville before then looking at the map she held. Right now, Cosmos was the one speaking, not her.
"At least, after all this time, someone powerful enough to embody for me to embody has been found." The voice of Cosmos was the most overpowering voice. "Though, I didn't expect it to be a human or even someone that has something that could be considered equal to Magic. What is it called, Aura? Yes, that's it."
She then held her hand out, realizing that Cynthia's body was an equal vessel to what she had envisioned. An alicorn. She used the Aura within Cynthia's body to essentially rejuvenate parts of herself. It was effective enough to have her conjure some magic from her hand.
"This Aura is something special." Cosmos laughed. "It's as if I took a nice bath and washed away all the pain. With this, I can do a bit more. Not sure if it's the Rift Energy that's also responsible but I could care less."
She shrugged before stopping near Saddle Lake, sitting on a log. She had then opened the map, looking at it once more. "I was thinking of possessing that princess back at the castle, but oh well. This body is just as good. How delightfully fortunate. But soon, that princess and others will assist me either way. I will need every piece of my magic back so I can get back to...him." She referred to Discord, only having sights for him.
The horrifying visage of Cosmos was starting to emerge from Cynthia's body. It was in the form of a cosmic-filled entity with sharp claws and fangs along with a hunched body.
"Are you ready for me, Discord, my dear? Because I'm coming home." She rubbed her hands together. "But first. To use this status to my advantage. A Principal and a Champion correct? Let's see how well those teachers do too."
The Pokemon School. Late Afternoon.
Lessons at the Pokemon School were ending. On Friday, it was the day when the younger students come to school instead. And as they were all leaving, some teachers remained within the school, getting ready to leave themselves.
One of which was Fantina. She closed up her doors, getting ready to depart from this world and soon it would be back to her world. But the second those doors were closed and she turned around, there was Cynthia, standing right behind her.
"Oh!" Fantina gasped before catching her breath. Ironically, the Ghost-Type Specialist had been startled. "Oh, Cynthia. You scared me there..."
"Apologies. I didn't know I could get that silent." Cynthia chuckled, putting her hand on Fantina's shoulder. "Do you think I could speak with you for a bit?"
"Mais oui!" Fantina clapped her hands together once. "What is it? Is it about maybe next semester for the students?
"Mm-mm." Cynthia shook her head as suddenly, Cosmos' magic started kicking in via the necklace. The necklace wasn't just a way to speak through Cynthia and control her, Cosmos' magic, what was remaining of it plus some Rift Magic was also flowing through it. "School can wait. Right now, there's something important I need from you, Fantina. Something fit for a Ghost."
After saying that, the magic rushed to Fantina's head. Fantina's body went through a rapid shock with two different magic sources affecting her. Chaos Magic and Rift Magic. Little ounces of it, but those small ounces could do so much as time has proven before.
Cynthia smiled as the Cosmos within her was affecting Fantina's mind. Cosmos truly did want some help finding those stars, but her assistance would go beyond ponies and a dragon. Thanks to everything that had been shared with her by Lucien and Sienna, the Spirit of Malice started thinking big. And Gym Leaders along with the Strange and Wonderful Creatures known as Pokemon were certainly big things to be shooting for. But her magic flow didn't stop there. She connected it with the Poke Balls that Fantina kept within her, going the extra mile.
Just like how she managed to gain control of Cynthia thanks to the necklace, it was easy for her to get through Fantina, who was exempt from a necklace. She did have a nice sense of fashion that didn't warrant a necklace, however. Fantina grimaced, almost falling over and getting on her knee before managing to maintain her balance.
"Oh là là..." Fantina's eyes flashed purple as well.
"Just a tiny favour. Can you have those Ghosts of yours do something for me?" Cosmos was not holding anything back. Playing it as cool as she can was the best way she could think of getting her true body back. And just as importantly, Cosmos needed to know everything.
Everything that Lucien and Sienna apparently know. Once she asked Fantina to do her one favour, she and the Ghost-Type Gym Leader had departed. Cosmos was not done. Even if the moon was starting to rise as she continued walking through the school.
"She is only one teacher," Cynthia spoke. "They're all strong like her, right? Why stop with just her?" She set her sights on the rest of the teachers here. At least, the ones still within the school at this time. Not a lot to pick from, but their strength certainly made up for it.
Canterlot Dungeon.
Once again, the Rift Siblings were waiting as the sun was starting to set. They heard nothing from Cosmos yet or even if she managed to find Cynthia and control her.
"Still nothing. Typical Sienna. Always having bright ideas but never going through the details." Lucien shook her head.
"Hey!"
"It's true though. Who's the one who helped you perfect those Desires?" Lucien then gave a cocky smirk before crossing his arms. Sienna's head lit up as she hated that this was certainly true. "I've got the edge on you with that, as you can see."
"At least I thought about Cynthia. You were only going for the Gym Leaders more than anything."
"Yeah well, I-" But before Lucien could reply, leading to another heated argument, both of them heard something drop. They stopped what they were doing, recognizing that the sound came from the door. They wondered what had caused the sound, but their pondering had been ceased as someone had phased through the walls.
A Mismagius.
"Misamgius." Mismagius had arrived in the Canterlot Dungeon, having those same pink eyes that Cosmos possessed. Lucien and Sienna knew about Cosmos all too well, recognizing the glow.
"Wait...Cosmos!" They simultaneously cried out with hope in their voices. Just then, the doors had suddenly opened, causing the two siblings to scrunch their faces. But they had nothing to worry about as the one who had opened the door was none other than Cynthia, possessed by Cosmos.
Not only that but the guards could be seen on the floor, currently dozing off. The one responsible for this was Mismagius, but mainly another one of Cosmos' pawns in her quest to be reborn. Fantina.
"Oh! You dealt with them easily it looks like!" Sienna gasped after seeing the guards asleep. "But, didn't you have to deal with the Golurk?"
"Golurk? Oh. You mean these things?" Cynthia then moved to the side, showing that she had two extra forces alongside her, also under the same effect that Cosmos had made.
Golurk. Two Golurk that stood alongside their guards stood alongside Cynthia, Fantina and Mismagius, being under Cosmos' control as well. The guards had been left out.
"Even those two...?" Lucien gawked.
"All I did was simply catch them off guard with a little dose of magic. Nothing special. This character Cynthia has her advantages besides the good looks." Cosmos shrugged before approaching them both. "Now, free them."
"Oui. Mismagius, Shadow Ball on that Aura Sphere!" Fantina ordered.
"Mismagius!" Mismagius summoned the only thing that could break this Aura Prison. A Pokemon Attack. It has not had an attack unleashed on it until now though. Lucien and Sienna stepped back as the blob of shadows along with the two Golurk had fired it onto the Aura Prison.
The sphere had been blown away. That involved not just the Aura, but Celestia's magic as well. The Infinity Energy had burned right through it, evaporating it as if it were water. Finally, they were free.
"Freedom! Woohoo!" Lucien raised his fists into the air as he and Sienna hugged each other, thrilled about this. They laughed for a bit before realizing they were hugging each other. The siblings then pulled away, clearing their throats. "Mm. Knew it was gonna happen eventually."
"Same here," Sienna replied.
"Now that you two are free, you can repay me, can't you?" Cosmos walked up to the siblings. "I was planning on sending everyone on a chase for those stars...but it seems you can help me. You said you knew how everything played out so take me there."
"Uh, yeah about that..." Sienna then spoke with nervousness in her tone. There was something she and Lucien did not want to say right in front of Cosmos' face. "One problem..."
"And what would that be?"
"I guess we didn't share all the knowledge of everything that's happened to you." Lucien whistled. "But our magic has been weakened..."
"Weakened?! Since when!"
"Since we got captured." Lucien lowered his head. "That Aura is a poison to us. We've been trapped in it for 2 or 3 months now I think. There's a reason why that spark of Rift Energy was so small when we sent it to you."
"We had previously summoned a Rift Sphere out in the mountains to send a few villains after it and that had already drained us," Sienna added. "Trying to reach you beyond the stars and in that dimension took a lot out of us too. I'm afraid we're dry on Rift Magic now..."
"So, how long were you planning on telling me this?" Cosmos narrowed her eyes. "You didn't tell me the moment I met you both."
"W-We were just hoping for our escape! We didn't think you'd want us to use our magic too! Haha!" Lucien tried reasoning with Cosmos. "I mean, we still have some magic in us, but with all of that Aura acting like an incurable disease, it's gonna be tough doing well...everything."
"I mean, that's how it goes right." Sienna squeed as the magic of Cosmos was starting to build up around her. Despite her having small ounces of it, it was still threatening either way. "Uhh..."
"You two...Deceive me, will you?" Her voice deepened.
"Wait! We can still be of help! We know how everything goes, remember?" Lucien halted her. "In the original timeline, you ended up losing after everything you've tried. In fact...that necklace you've put on Cynthia was also in the original timeline. Just uh...not on her but Twilight instead."
"It was?" Cosmos held the necklace.
"R-Right!" Sienna stuttered. "You're even holding that map with you, which means that history's going to repeat itself! But we can help you change that. Change how history goes. I mean, this world's already strayed away from its original timeline in some areas so what's the harm, am I right?"
"Hmm..." Cosmos thought about it. The Rift Siblings managed to raise an excellent point, one that made Cosmos rethink things. "If that's so...what happened today? Was it similar to the original timeline?"
"Well uh...originally, Rarity found the necklace, then she gave it to Twilight cause it looks like her Cutie Mark. Then she went to the castle to show her friends, found that same map and-" Sienna started going over what had happened in a simplified way.
"Stop. I've heard enough." Cosmos ended Sienna's sentence. "You're telling the truth. You do know how it plays out. How wonderful and convenient..."
"Hah..." They were both relieved as they had dodged a bullet there.
"Very well. You two will come with me. Tell me what I should do next to deviate from the original timeline. This is the only time I will let someone give me advice." Cosmos ordered.
"G-Got it. Well, uh, what were you planning to do next after this?" Lucien asked.
"After hearing that you have been weakened, I planned to head for the Secret Underground Chamber that Canterlot has, housing various forbidden artefacts. One of those chests has the Andalusian star."
"Well, yeah that also happens. But Applejack was there with you so...It's only a minor change." Lucien shrugged.
"We can still head for the chamber and get the star. But maybe not with us around. Or even you with that appearance." Sienna nervously pointed at Cosmos.
"And why not? Is this Cynthia character not respected here? She did help stop an invasion that happened in this world, didn't she? And she is the principal of that school."
"Yeah, yeah, true. But...Don't know if they'd let you in that easily." Sienna answered, unsure of what to say next.
"Hmph. We will still make our way to that chamber. Use whatever ounce of your magic you still have in you to be of good use." Cosmos turned around with Fantina and the other Ghosts following her. "Besides, I have those other teachers as assistance."
"Other teachers?" Lucien said as he and Sienna soon followed after them. "You mean...you got the other Gym Leaders?"
"Precisely." Cosmos smiled as the Golurk were left behind. The door to the dungeon had been closed by the Golurk as they were then ordered to stay behind via Cosmos' order. The guards were still asleep. "And soon, the other teachers as well. If I'm going to take revenge on Discord, I need to get back at those who had also defeated me. Celestia is up next."
"Uh, might not wanna do that." Sienna stopped Cosmos immediately.
"Hm? Why not?"
"Original timeline. Going to Celestia's is exactly what happened last time. Plus, she's not the same Celestia you knew. Her magic has gotten better. Like...way better. And there's that stupidly strong Gardevoir she was with her. Let's uh...try something else."
"Hmph. Fine. What do you suppose we do differently since it sounds like you're rewriting the story." Cosmos crossed her arms.
"Uh...Help me out here Lucien." Sienna nudged her head in her brother's direction. "You're the one with the details."
"Ahem! Right! So, I suggest..." Lucien scratched his hair, thinking of the next action for Cosmos to take. "Uh, send the Gym Leaders after the star? Maybe?"
"That is your new idea?" Cosmos was not impressed. Lucien didn't have much else to say. "Fine then. If going for Celestia next is a bad idea, then I will propose something to deviate from the timeline. But I will still go after her later on."
"Oh, I got something!" Sienna jumped up. "You want overwhelming numbers? I know the place to be. Frenzy Forest! Trust us, that's the place to be with all the Pokemon to control. I mean, the teachers are already familiars and friendly with that place so..."
"Looks like your ideas aren't dry after all." Cosmos smiled as Sienna managed to recover herself and Lucien in the eyes of the malicious draconequus. "Tonight, I take the Pokemon. And tomorrow morning, I will take the star."
Frenzy Forest. Nightfall.
"Del...Delphox..." Speaking of Frenzy Forest, all was calm during this time. Delphox and the Pokemon living here were all asleep. Peaceful times only existed for these Pokemon as they were unbeknownst to the storm that was coming their way. One that was full of chaotic malice.
Delphox rolled in her bed, smiling as she was having a pleasant dream. However, moments later, an orange glow had passed through her window. It went over her face, causing the Fox Pokemon to twitch in her sleep. "Phox." Delphox groaned, opening her eyes as the glow was getting brighter.
But it was more than just the glow. Her ears had heard something upon opening her eyes. From what they could pick up, it sounded like Pokemon cries. That was common here. But another thing that was even just as common to Delphox herself was the sound of fire burning. Being a Fire-Type and all. Those two sounds were meshing together as Delphox soon looked out her window. And thus, those sounds all made sense.
The forest was on fire.
"Delphox?!" Delphox gasped as this peaceful night had been disturbed. The beautiful trees had been lit ablaze within the Grass and Water-Type area along with the others. Even with water around, these flames were violent, rapidly spreading as many Pokemon were crying out and running out of fear.
"Hahahaha! Brilliant! How I've missed this!" Cosmos laughed as she had already gotten her hands on some of the Pokemon here. Using Cynthia's familiarity with them was the best option she could've gone for.
"Uh...T-This isn't getting help." Sienna stuttered.
"No. But it's been so long since I've unleashed malice upon something. I needed this." Cosmos grinned as she had used Cynthia's face in a terrifying way. Visible veins could be seen with her pupils becoming as sharp as a serpent. Indeed, Cosmos was nothing but pure malice.
Even Lucien and Sienna were terrified as walking right next to Cosmos were the Pokemon she had targeted. Immediately, she went for the heavy hitters. Mainly Aggron, Pyroar and some Pokemon from the Steel, Ground and Fighting areas. All of them had that pink glow in their eyes as well.
"Hahaha! Come on! Let's enjoy it a bit more before we head back to Canterlot tomorrow morning! I want all the Pokemon here, but not before I have my fun!" She raised her hand as the controlled Pokemon continued their rampage. These Pokemon were friends with the others here, but that did not seem to be the case anymore. Not with Cosmos in charge.
Assisting these controlled Pokemon was Fantina. And she was indeed joined by the other Gym Leaders who were within the Pokemon School at the time. Roxie, Valerie and Roxanne. All three of them had that look in their eyes. Although, it was hard to tell with Valerie since her eyes were already odd. Their Pokemon had been influenced by Cosmos as well, doing her bidding while listening to their corrupted trainers.
Cosmos wanted both her absolute return and complete malice. And after centuries of being hidden away, she was going all out for it.
Ponyville. 20 minutes earlier. Nightfall.
"Absol!" And the one to sense the incoming disaster minuted before it began was Absol, who was standing guard during the night as always. His horn trembled as the incoming disaster had been predicted by him. Sensing this, the Disaster Pokemon wasted no time. "Sol!"
Absol was off. He could sense a disaster of colossal proportions, one that was close to the invasion. His horn not only acted as a way to sense disasters but also a way to locate the disaster. And right now, he had only one place set within his sights. The Frenzy Forest.
Absol ran as fast as he could, already leaving Ponyville. He was just hoping that it wouldn't be too late until the disaster had not only begun or even if it ended already. Because with Cosmo, it's hard to tell. Her malice was something to fear and it could only be worse if her true body was ever restored as the journey continues.
Chapter 779 End.